I will
by ferretgirl-1124
Summary: Neko's return hails a new reign of terror, and her latest plot shows itself to be more terrible then the Titans could have ever imagined. Part 2 in the 'Trio of Terror' trilogy. Sequel to 'I can'.
1. Prologue

Title: I will  
Author: ferretgirl1124  
Genre: Action/Adventure, angst  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Dark themes, graphic content, child abuse, implied character death  
Pairings: RaexBB, RobxStar, KFxJinx, CyxBee, SpeedyxAqualad 

Summary: Neko's return hails a new reign of terror, and herlatest plot shows itself to be more terriblethen the Titans could have ever imagined.

A/N: Here it is. I updated this rather quickly, neh? Well, this chapter is rather short, but important, so...enjoy.

* * *

Alarms blared. Time was running out. She couldn't stop, couldn't wait. 

"Neko!"

No.

"Neko! Wait, I hurt my ankle!"

No. Distractions would not be allowed. She had too many plans, and she needed revenge. The Titans had won once, and that was all she would allow.

The catgirl paused once, knowing it was foolish but having no choice. He would talk if left. He was still following, his limp now evident, and her tail flicked as her ears flattened in disgust. "Hurry, boy."

"I can't. When I fell, I hurt my ankle."

He had helped her escape, but she owed him nothing. He had only done what was expected of him. As he finally caught up, she lay a gentle hand on his arm and smiled sweetly. "Thank you Trickster. You served me well." Her right hand darted to the left, and one razor sharp claw slit his throat.

He fell to the ground with an odd gurgling sound and she continued on her way. There was a new world ahead of her, and she knew just how to conquer it.


	2. Worthless Help

Title: I will  
Author: ferretgirl1124  
Genre: Action/Adventure, angst  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Dark themes, graphic content, child abuse, implied character death  
Pairings: RaexBB, RobxStar, KFxJinx, CyxBee, SpeedyxAqualad 

Summary: Neko's return hails a new reign of terror, and her latest plot shows itself to be more terrible then the Titans could have ever imagined.

A/N: Ah, the continuation to the evil, short prologue. Hope you guys enjoy this. I'm already working on the second chapter...oh, and this wasn't beta'd, so if there are any big mistakes, I apologize.

Dedicated to: Meiriona, for updating her fic 'I never saw it coming'. If you like SpeedyxAqualad, you have got to check it out.

* * *

"...And in other news, a young girl was found dead last night. Jennifer Harlan, age 3, was discovered outside her home after her mother overheard a large struggle. She had been missing for four hours previous, and her parents believed she had simply wandered away after being taken to a park near her home..."

The screen clicked back to a window. "Same M.O. Neurological poison. The girl had a small scratch on her cheek, where she had been given the poison. The noise was intentional, though; she had a deep bite mark in her left leg that was still bleeding when her mother found the body."

"So not only does she want her victims be found, Neko's not even trying to hide her identity anymore." Raven's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Right." Robin crossed his arms, a grimace etched on his face. "But why is she doing it?"

Starfire scowled. "She is bored. This is a new game for her."

"She's tryin' to mess with us again." Cyborg stood beside the couch, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"So, the question is, what is the new game?"

Beast Boy, who sat on the back of the couch, spoke up last. "It has something to do with little kids. They're a huge weakness for a bunch of people." His teammates glanced at him, slightly surprised because of how ecclectic his flashs of insight were, but nodded.

"Well, this is a great brainstorming session and all, but we don't know where she'll strike next."

Robin glanced at the sorceress and smiled strangly, an eerie resemblence to his mentor appearing. "No, but I think I know some one that does."

* * *

The Titans were greeted warmly upon their arrival at the prison. The guard sent out to meet them smiled almost fawningly and motioned to a near-by door. "Hello. He's waiting in there. Be careful. We have his eyes covered, but that may not be enough. We still don't know how his powers work."

They nodded and filed into the room, the girls wincing slightly at the sight of the blindfolded boy. Nightmare, like Plasmus, was kept locked in stasis 24/7, the only definate way to keep his powers under control. Robin sat in the chair opposite the strange boy and leaned forward. "Nightmare. I want you to tell me where Neko went."

For a horrible second, Raven was sure he would say 'Hello Clarice. Have the lambs stopped screaming?'. However, he simply cocked his head to the side slightly and laughed, a short, hoarse noise. "I'm sure. And who might you be?"

"We are not here for your games!"

Behind the blindfold, the villain's white eyes widened slightly. "You brought _them_ here, Robin? Aren't you afraid for their wellbeing? The very sight of my has been known to inspire terror."

Robin scowled. "You're the one that should be scared!"

Laughter began to echo around the small room as the boy threw his head back and roared his amusement. "Me? There is only one person in this world that has ever scared me." Taking his hand away from his mouth for the first time in the interview, he revealed a puffy scar that was usually hidden by his mask. It went from one cheek to the chin, curving up to the other cheek. It was if some one had attempted to cut his throat and missed. Not only that, but it was a relatively fresh wound, that couldn't have been more then a year old. Grinning at the small gasps that escaped the Titans, he leaned back in his chair. "And she's the one that gave me this."

"That's why you worked with Neko? Because she scared you?"

His head whipped to face Beast Boy, pinpointing his location by voice alone. "I feed off fear, green boy. She's the only one that was never afraid of me. She...was my one weakness."

Raven blanched slightly. "Why would you stay with some one like that?"

His grin was oddly crooked. He had never been this relaxed in the time that the girls had known him before; being away from Neko obviously made him happier. However, in some way, it made him weaker too. "You can't enjoy emotions, can you demon? Imagine that for a day, you could feel an emotion without any reprocutions. One catch though. You can only feel hatred. It's a 'bad' emotion, but just being able to feel it would be amazing, wouldn't it? It was just like that. She scared me. She was the only one that scared me. And I was addicted to it."

They stared at him, horrified but intrigued. Cyborg finally spoke up, voice cracking slightly. "Why are you telling us this?"

He was greeted by another laugh for the blindfolded boy. "Because, in the long run, it won't mean a damn thing. I'm in here, she's out there, and the ten minutes I just wasted gave her more time to run without helping you at all."

* * *

After Nightmare had been led out of the room, the Titans stayed to discuss. Robin scowled and leaned against the table, arms crossed. "Well, that went well."

"It did help us though." Raven floated forward slightly to catch the other's attention. "We know that she has anti social personality disorder, and that explains a lot about her."

Beast Boy sighed. "Rae, c'mon, speak english."

"She did." Robin's eyes were now gleaming as he caught on. "And she's right. Anti-social personality disorder is more commonly known as 'sociopath'. We'd suspected that, but knowing that she can't feel fear..."

"He could have been lieing." Starfire's voice was quiet, and her expression was grim. Seeing Nightmare again had shaken her badly, and she was not nearly as good as Raven as at hiding that fact.

"Yeah, but he didn't act like he was. Besides, it helps explain her more, but we're not trying to understand her. We're trying to catch her."

A sigh followed Cyborg's comment as Raven leaned shook her head. "But if we can understand her, we can catch her. Knowing how she thinks will produce patterns in her behavior that we can follow."

Robin shook his head as the team fell to scawbling. This was too sensitive of a topic for all of them, and they all needed sleep before considering anything else. Or, at the very least, food. "Titans, calm down. Let's go grab some pizza, and we can look over our notes afterwards." A tense silence followed his comment, before they all nodded and left the room.

Outside, the same gaurd caught their attention. "Hey! Heard he wasn't too much help to you guys." Ignoring the glares he was recieving from Raven, he continued. "Don't worry. We do have some one else you can talk to, and I'm positive he'll know more then that guy ever will."

"Who? Her only other accomplice was killed by her."

The guard grinned, obviously proud that he got to be the one to report this to them. "That's what we thought too, but that guy's got the luck of the devil himself. He's sitting in our med ward right now, alive and kicking."


	3. The Doctors Child

Title: I will  
Author: ferretgirl1124  
Genre: Action/Adventure, angst  
Rating: R  
Warnings: Dark themes, graphic content, child abuse and death, implied character death  
Pairings: RaexBB, RobxStar, KFxJinx, CyxBee, SpeedyxAqualad 

Summary: Neko's return hails a new reign of terror, and her latest plot shows itself to be more terrible then the Titans could have ever imagined.

A/N: From here on, the plot's going to be really twisted and weird. So if you don't understand something, wait, because it should be explained in the next chapter.

* * *

The medical ward of the penitentiary was divided into many small rooms, a cell for each patient. Upon their arrival the head physician, a Dr. Richards, approached the Titans. He gave them a curt nod and pushed his glasses up to the dome of his balding head, smiling slightly at the curious look Beast Boy gave him. "I only need them for close work. So, I hear that you want to see one of our more infamous patients." 

Robin nodded, frowning slightly as two guards started towards one of the cells. "Yes. We were told that Trickster survived."

"You were told right." Richards jerked his head towards the now guarded cell. "We have to check him before you go in, of course. He's been…a bit of a hassle."

"His throat was cut." Cyborg's eyebrow was now up to his non-existent hairline. "How much trouble can he be?"

The doctor rolled his eyes dramatically and held up his hands in a pleading gesture. "Please, don't ask. Most of our patients are willing to receive medical treatment, but this boy…" He sighed and shook his head, leaving them to fill in the blanks on their own.

Raven frowned beneath her hood and glanced towards the small room. "How did he survive?"

Richards favored her with a wry smile, rubbing at the bags beneath his eyes. The man obviously hadn't slept for a while. "Damned if I know. Best we can figure is that she was in a hurry. The cut was deep, but it missed the artery. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to him before I let you in."

They stood quietly after he left, and only the girls realized that the boys had automatically gone into a protective position around them.

* * *

Trickster sat up in his cot, glaring at the doctor. He had many complaints, and first and foremost was the food. Unfortunately, it hurt to talk and Richards wouldn't give him anything to write on, he was left with no options but to glare at the man in hopes of intimidating him.

The doctor ignored him. He had been working in a prison far too long to be affected by a simple glare. "Listen up. You have some visitors here on urgent business. You'd better co-operate, or I'll let them deal with you."

That perked the boy's interest. He tilted his head slightly and smirked.

Interpreting the look easily, Richards leaned forward in his chair, an evil glint in his eyes. "Yes, I do think they could handle you. In fact, they already have."

Surprise, confusion, and then horrified understanding crossed Trickster's face. He shook his head quickly and the doctor smirked coldly.

"They're coming in here whether you like it or not. The cloaked girl seemed particularly excited to see you."

At that point, Trickster wished more then anything that Neko had just finished him off. Sure, under normal circumstances he could have handled them, but he was currently handcuffed to a prison cot without even his trench coat to boost his confidence. When the door opened, it took all his strength not to cringe, and it wasn't until he saw how paranoid the Titans looked that he calmed down. If they were scared of him, he could intimidate them, and that was just what he needed.

Beast Boy gave him a dark glare, standing in front of Raven defensively. Trickster managed to keep from laughing until Richards left the room, but he couldn't keep a few sniggers from escaping. Despite the pain, he couldn't control the urge to comment. "That doesn't really work when the chick is taller then you." He let a nonchalant grin slip onto his face as Beast Boy flushed. "So, what brings you here? Come to gloat?"

"Nothing quite that petty." Robin crossed his arms and glared down at the boy. "Where did Neko go?"

Trickster laughed, wincing slightly at the pain before speaking again. "Even if I did have the balls to betray her, that bitch never tells anyone what she's planning. We were her patsy's, remember?"

"And you have no idea what her thought process might be?"

Dark, pupil-less eyes turned to focus on Raven. "I'd don't think even Neko has any idea what Neko's thought process is."

The Titans glanced at each other, and Robin finally turned to plan B. "Do you think you could track her, in any way?"

"Well…hey, I could try. I mean, she's bound to start a pattern somewhere." He shrugged, trying to keep his answers short as his voice began to grow raspy.

"Good. From here on out, you're working with us. We have the papers filed; we leave tomorrow to start looking. She already killed two children, one here and one farther down state. She'll probably be in Arizona soon." Robin's voice held it's usual authoritative note, and the it was obvious that the issue was not up for discussion.

However, just because Robin didn't want to talk didn't mean Trickster was going to bow to his demands. The dark boy snorted and glared at them, one eyebrow arching slightly. "What makes you think I want to help you?"

"We do not think that. But we can strike a deal with you." Starfire glanced at her friends, hoping that her phrasing had been correct, and she calmed slightly when they nodded at her.

"Oh yeah? What'll you offer me?"

Robin frowned and crossed his arms, eying Trickster warily. " What do you want?"

"Out."

"No."

The villain sighed and shrugged. It had been worth a try. "I want my trench coat back. And better food!" Odd requests, but he was a teenage boy after all. Food was one of the main focuses of his life at that point, and he wanted his coat back more then anything else. He loved that thing like a pet, as twisted as that was.

The Titans hesitated, glanced at each other, and then grudgingly agreed. With one condition. "Raven gets to put a spell on it. It will keep your powers under control."

Trickster glared at Robin, then scowled. "Fine. I'll help you with your damn hunt. But, so help me god, if she comes after me I will make sure you guys take the blame."

Cyborg scowled and crossed his arms. "We'll put her in another prison, alright?"

"Alright. Deal."

* * *

Once back home, the Titans gathered in the control room, eerily solemn. None of them were talking, or even meeting each other's eyes. Once four of the teammates had found a seat on the semi-circle couch, Robin clicked on the screen. The now familiar image of Neko appeared, along with two pictures of young children.

"These are the children she's killed. One was killed here, last week. Yesterday the second victim was found outside her home downstate. She was poisoned, then..." Robin winced and shook his head. "Then she was thrown against one of the families picture windows while still alive."

The other Titans winced and Star inhaled sharply. The image of the most recent victim showed a sweet looking four year old, with black hair and bright green eyes. Raven was the first to notice the most startling part.

"Sandra Richards?" The sorceress voice was soft. "That's a common enough name...but still a weird coincidence."

"It wasn't a coincidence." Robin folded his arm over his chest and sighed. "His work transferred him, but his family stayed behind because of his wife's health issues. I have no doubt that she targeted the girl purposely. I don't know who else she'll go after though."

"Man...no wonder he wanted to help us...I thought he'd be more pissed though." A soft sigh echoed around the room as Beast Boy slumped down in his seat, leaning against Raven slightly.

Cyborg shook his head, still staring at the picture. "He was in shock, BB."

All five of them sat quietly, digesting all that they had learned and what could come of it. She was already almost out of California. They had no doubt that reports of child abductions and deaths would begin flowing from Arizona. But if that was true, that opened up a possibility too horrific to really be considered. If the theories were right, she was acting out Hansel and Gretel, with bodies of children instead of bread crumbs, and god only knew how many more she would kill if not caught.

* * *

She was hungry. It was a bad time for distractions, but knowing that didn't lessen her hunger. Once this was all over, she would need to go 'shopping'. Until then, she had to focus all her attention on her project.

Ah! There it was. Phones open amazing windows of opportunity. As the thirty-something socialite hurried to answer the call from either her over-weight husband or her under-thirty lover, Neko struck. The three-year-old boy left momentarily alone in the back yard, managed one cry.

Then there was only a rustle from one of the bushes lining the spacious yard, and both captor and captive were gone.


	4. Arizona

**Title:** I will  
**Author:** ferretgirl1124  
**Genre:** Action/Adventure, angst  
**Rating:** R  
**Warnings:** Dark themes, graphic content, child abuse and death, implied character death  
**Pairings:** RaexBB, RobxStar, KFxJinx, CyxBee, SpeedyxAqualad 

**Summary:** Neko's return hails a new reign of terror, and her latest plot shows itself to be more terrible then the Titans could have ever imagined.

**A/N:** Have you everread something that nauseated and horrified you to the very pit of your soul, only to realize it was something you wrote? Welcome to 'I will' chapter 4. If you're weak of stomach...please, forgive me. Once this part is over, the third part will be much better. I'm trying to add a happy section to each chapter, to make it little easier to bear, but feel free to throw things at me if this one is too much.

* * *

"...The killer's rampage has continued into Arizona. A six-year-old, Devan Collins, resident of Quartzsite, was abducted from his bedroom late last night and found this morning on the front yard..."

Robin's fist connected with the desk, sending tremors through the sturdy peice of furniture. They had a serious problem now. This account brought up too many questions, and watching it for a third time hadn't help. The official documents offered only a few more clues.

This whole thing was strange. Either Neko was purposely messing with them, or they had a copycat killer (no pun intended, because the current situation was not one for puns). His team had retired to bed when they discovered that they had been going in circles for eight hours, and that it was well past midnight, but he couldn't quiet his brain enough to get some rest.

It just wasn't like Neko. None of her other attacks had been at all stealthy, done purposely to get their attention. But now that she had it, maybe she was trying to be more careful. The boy wonder's head hung in a mixture of exhaustion and defeat, his tired mind barely registering the sound of the door opening.

"Robin."

It wasn't a question. Turning to face his latenight visitor, the masked boy sighed and collapsed into a near-by chair, waving the figure into the room. "Raven. What are you doing up?"

"I had a nightmare. About the kids." The flat tone of her voice, so much colder then her usual monotone, told him all he needed to know. "Shouldn't you be sleeping? We leave tomorrow."

"I know." Standing, the dark haired boy began to pace, narrowed eyes focusing on the ground. The sorceress watched him, eyes following his restless movement almost wthout meaning too. "I just can't. This isn't like her at all. The boy had one wound, no poison, taken from his room in the middle of the night and returned to the house sometime between one and six a.m..."

"So she's playing with us."

"Or we have a copycat killer."

Raven's dark eyebrow arched sceptically as she crossed her arms. "This has been in the news for less then a week, and it only became national news once she moved into another state. The likelyhood of a copycat is very slim."

Scowling, Robin turned back to the files and skimmed them again. "I know, rational thought says it makes no sense. But no one could change their patterns that much."

"Unless she's consciously making an effort. She's a sociopath, Robin. I know that you of all people understand how dangerous that makes her. Worse, she's an intelligent sociopath, so she might be changing her patterns to throw us off track."

"So our only wild card is Trickster."

"Yes." Raven's face twisted momentarily, fortunately obscured by her hood's shadow and the room's gloom. Yes, Trickster was a wild card. But was he enough of one? Neko had analyzed them, and done it carefully; she could tell just by the planning that had gone into the capture that had led to the catgirl's inital arrest. So, was it completely out of the question that she might realize that they would go to her cronies for information? No...it was more likely paranoia; after all, she probably thought that Trickster was dead. "Come on. We should get some sleep."

* * *

"Oh, come on! You guys can't be serious!"

"Raven?"

"Right."

"Mmph!"

Trickster flailed, glaring at the group of teens standing in a tight circle around him. His arms were wrapped in a pitch black substance, and the same goo covered his mouth, thankfully muffling the cries of indignation he was attempting to issue. They had been traveling for two hours, aided by the sorceress's powers, a decision that had been made unanimously when they realized that Neko had to have been traveling through the state on foot or in stolen cars. Using a floating platform of aura gave them the chance to see her no matter how she was moving.

"We're almost to Tucson. Has anyone seen anything?" The whine in Beast Boy's voice was surprisingly grating, and the others twitched. He sat down on the edge of the platform and began kicking his legs idily, glaring down at the ground.

Raven bit her lip and took a deep breath, trying to get her emotions under control before she caused her friends to plunge to their death. "If we had seen anything, don't you think we would have said something?"

"Rae's right, BB. Stop whinin' and help us look." Cyborg cast his green friend an irritated look before returning to work. His expression brightened slightly as he saw something flying towards."Hey, y'all, Star's back!"

Starfire landed on the now slightly expanded platform and glanced between them, crossing her arms underneath her breasts and turning away from Trickster's stare. She had been sent on a scouting mission, but nothing on her face spoke of good news. "Freinds...I have found nothing. I do wish that she had run to a cooler place, though..." Her normally orange skin was even darker, indicating a painful, if not severe, sunburn.

"Don't we all."

Raven's dry remark was ignored as they settled in, the others soon following Beast Boy's example and sitting down. There was no real reason to guard Trickster...after all, if he escaped the only reward would be a fifty foot plunge to the hard packed desert floor.

* * *

"This..._camping_ is most intriguing. Are we going to be doing the roasting of marshmallows? And the running from lake monsters?"

"Beast Boy, I told you to stop showing my girlfriend those cheesy teen horror movies!"

"I didn't!"

"It's eight o' clock, 100 degrees, and you're fighting over _movies_."

"C'mon, y'all! I'm tired!"

"This state does much with the sucking, yes?"

"Yeah, Star. It sucks like Speedy and Aqualad locked in a room together."

"Beast Boy!"

"...I do not understand."

"You don't want to."

Trickster stared at the two tents, gaping under the muzzle of aura. He had been tied to what passed for a tree in the deeper parts of the desert state, and the rough bark scraped against his arms painfully; he was sure he'd be bleeding by the morning. Not that his sadist captors would care. They had finally stopped for the night an hour ago, throwing up two tents and cooking a quick meal before retiring for the night, leaving him out here in the heat. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the tempurature, the pain, and the slowly approaching coyote howls.

Okay, he definately agreed with the Titans. This state sucked.

* * *

Setting out the next morning was tough. A sudden thunderstorm struck, turning the shallow stream they had been camped next to into a raging river. The ground, usually dirt baked as hard as rock, was marshy. Three things were discovered that morning: their prisoner was drenched and potentially ill, they couldn't get a fire started to make breakfast, and the girls tent was sinking into the muck.

So, needless to say, it was a rather peeved group that dragged themselves into the air that day. Two were coated in mud, one was sneezing miserably every few seconds, and all were hungry.

The rest of the trip was the worst they had so experienced. Sure, that wasn't saying much, but it was a pretty good indication of what the rest would be like. It was hot, and the storm had brought up the humidity. Around two in the afternoon, Beast Boy caught Tricksters cold, almost killing them by sneezing and shifting into a T-rex on the narrow floating platform.

Another few hours passed, and there were still no reports. Neko couldn't have gotten far, so they decided to state in the god awful state until they heard something. Hopefully, they could catch her before she got farther then two states. They did not need a cross country goose chase; that would put too many innocents in danger, and all of them were having nightmares from the five they hadn't been able to save.

They were about to stop for the night when the report came in; another child, a three-year-old, had been found pinned to a tree in her front yard by shots from a staple gun that had been sent through her throat till she stuck. Raven paled and was forced to land, running into a nearby bush only moments before she lost the little food she had eaten that day. Star began to cry silently and clung to Cyborg, the only one who had managed to control his stomach. Left alone, hog tied and lying in the dirt, Trickster simply stared ahead, expression blank and eyes empty.

They left for New Mexico, where the report had come from, no one talking. Someday, maybe they would be able to speak of it. For now though, the six simply flew, eyes fixed on the horizon, stomachs and minds reeling.

* * *

"We were stupid."

Cyborg glared into the fire, the light dance across his face. They had been forced to stop for the night when they were less then thirty miles from the border. It was letting her get ahead at a time when Raven should have simply teleported them to the town the latest victim was found, and they despised the delay, but after a few minutes of flying, the platform had begun to flicker as the sleepless nights and the constant distractions caught up with her. It was decided that to keep themselves alive, they would have to stop for the night.

They had landed, grudingly set up camp, and started a fire along with the current conversation.

"We were stupid." Beast Boy glanced up as his metallic friend repeated himself, frowning. "We underestimated her, and she got away. How the hell did she get to New Mexico so damn fast? We stopped for one night!"

"Eight stolen cars." Robin stood on the edge of the light, arms crossed with his fists clenched tight enough that his nails would have dug gouges in the palms if it weren't for his gloves. "And even if we had left as soon as we had found out, she would have been long gone. The kid had been there for two hours. Her mom was asleep when she was kidnapped, and she was pinned to the back of the tree, so the only way to see her was through the house's living room window."

Beast Boy winced and turned, hiding his face in Raven's shoulder. "Dude...this...can we handle her? She's moving so fast, and she's so...sick. That little girl's parents finding her like that..."

Wincing, Starfire pulled her legs up to her chest and buried her head in her arms. "I do not know. I have never seen anything like this. On Tamaran, to commit such an act would have been the worst of offenses, warranting immediate extermination."

"Extermination." Raven mulled over the word, tasting it, and nodded slowly. It was a word more fit for a bug or a rabid dog then a human, but in this case, it seemed to work perfectly. Perhaps because Neko was rabid mentally, if not physically. "It's not exactly excepted here, but most people can't do anything. And if a civilian went after Neko..."

A shudder ran through the assembly and Cyborg poked at the logs distastfully. "Man...even Slade was never this bad...how are we supposed to deal with some one like her?"

"The same way we've dealt with everyone else." The masked Titan finally joined the group, kneeling next to his girlfriend and wrapping an arm around her comfortingly. "We've beat the Brotherhood of Evil, H.I.V.E, Slade, Brother Blood. We can handle one crazed catgirl. We just need to move fast tomorrow, and try not to get discouraged. I know can do this, Titans."

The pep talk almost failed, but Beast Boy grinned slightly and sat up. "Yeah! Robin's right. We beat everything that comes our way! Plus, we've beat her before, and she doesn't even have her team with her now."

A green eye peeked at them as Starfire looked up, smiling slightly. "Yes! We shall show her what it would be like to be a Tamaranean criminal."

"I'll make her regret even thinking of touching those children."

"Rob's right. The Brain makes this chick look like nothing! We can take her out, easy."

Robin looked around at his team and smiled. They were together again, and they were finally willing to work for this. They had managed to defeat the most powerful demon in the universe; a simple psycho should be a peice of cake to destroy. None of them noticed Trickster, once again tied to a tree and out of the firelight, shake his head slowly and regretfully.

They really had no idea what they were up against.


	5. Colorado

**Title:** I will  
**Author:** ferretgirl1124  
**Genre:** Action/Adventure, angst  
**Rating:** R  
**Warnings:** Dark themes, graphic content, child abuse and death, implied character death  
**Pairings:** RaexBB, RobxStar, KFxJinx, CyxBee, SpeedyxAqualad 

**Summary:** Neko's return hails a new reign of terror, and her latest plot shows itself to be more terrible then the Titans could have ever imagined.

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait. I've had writers block on and off for months, and finally decided to just rush the ending of this chapter (which I hate doing) in hopes that I'd find inspiration again. So...the ending sucks, and there is no really happy scene in this one. It just kind of sucks all together. --;;

* * *

"Why are we even bothering? She's going to be long gone by the time we get there. We should just sit and wait until the next report comes in, then have Rae teleport us." Beast Boy Sat by glumly, steeling himself for the upcoming teleportation. That feeling always unsettled his stomach, and he that the description he had just heard would be helping any. Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire stood gathered around Raven as she meditated, waiting tersely for her to be calm enough to focus on the new move, and only the changeling noticed Trickster's mounting terror. "Um…dudes?"

"Quiet, BB. Rae's gotta focus."

"Yeah, but Trick –" Before he could finish his sentence, the six were enveloped in blackness. When the shadows dissipated, they stood at the mouth of a cave, an eerie and ominous sight. Beast Boy was the first to realize that the sudden and never before experienced feeling of the teleportation had knocked Trickster out. "Guys, I think we gave Trickster a heart attack."

Raven's harsh voice answered first, echoing back as she entered the caves without hesitation. "Good. God knows he tried to do that to me enough."

The metallic Titan sighed and hoisted the villain up onto his shoulder, holding his like a sack of grain. "C'mon y'all. Rae'll leave us behind if we let her."

The caves in question were the Carlsbad Caverns, one of New Mexico's biggest natural attractions. The latest victim had been found in a tunnel appropriately titled 'Slaughter Canyon Cave', and the labyrinth was bad enough without the unsettling name. Added, it made the gloomy atmosphere three times worse and created a deep aching sensation of fear in the pits of their stomachs.

Of course, Beast Boy was probably right. The call had been sent out the day before, but unprecedented circumstances had led to them stopping for the night, giving Neko an atrociously large amount of time to escape the scene of the crime. Still, there was a certain obligation to visit the latest sight in her death spree, and it would give them something to do while they waited for the next report.

About twenty feet away from the mouth of the cave, the waning light finally began to give up it's battle. Starfire summoned a starbolt and held it aloft, watching as green shadows flickered around the intricately rock structures, knowing it would be beautiful if it weren't so scary. "Friends…I do not like it here. I wish to wait somewhere else. "

Robin's mouth pursed tighter and he walked forward determinately. Neko was making a mockery of them without even breaking a sweat; he was not going to make that worse by shirking his duties, even if he felt the same way his girlfriend did. "No, Star. This is our job, and we're going to do it right."

"Rob, where'd they say they found the kid?" Cyborg's voice was muted in an attempt to lessen the echoes. The only result of this was soft whispers bouncing off the walls before returning, becoming disembodied and inhuman.

"_Kid…kid…kid…_"

Beast Boy shuddered and shifted into a bat, coming to a rest on Raven's shoulder, who was so caught up in her thoughts that she barely even noticed. Robin smiled wanly at the sight, then turned to his teammate. "We still have a ways to go. They think he got separated from his family fairly quickly, but she dragged him in deeper."

"How did they lose track of their child?"

"It was a family reunion. His mom thought she was dragging him around, but it turned out to by one of the other kids with him. They all went back looking for him and…well…" He blanched and trailed off, tactfully discontinuing the story. The 6-year-old's family had found the boy all right, but he hadn't been intact when he was discovered. All of him had been there, but it was no longer all connected.

Farther in, they began to hear voices and see a large glow. The still-fresh crime scene was teeming with officials, and the green light called their attention to the Titans immediately. A tall, balding man separated himself from the group and came forward, holding out his hand to Robin and nodding to the other Titans. "Thank you for coming. I'm Commander Rose, and I'm in charge of this investigation."

"Commander." The masked boy nodded curtly and lowered his voice. "We believe this case is connected to a string of murders. The victim fits the pattern and –"

"Hold it." Rose cut through Robin's carefully prepared speech and yanked him away from the other officers. "Are you telling me this _is_ part of Neko's path?" Robin nodded and the man rubbed at his temples, sighing softly. "Shit. I'd heard the rumors, but I was hoping to not get mixed up in that. It sounds messy."

Raven stepped forward, noticing without much surprise that her presence seemed to make him even make more uncomfortable "It is. Literally and figuratively."

Laughing harshly, Rose turned back towards the crime scene, motioning for them to follow. "Oh, you don't have to tell be about the literal. My team was one of the first here, and we got to drag the mom off of the body. That wasn't the most pleasant experience in my career."

Beast Boy shifted back as they joined the police and began examining the scene. "So…what have you guys found?"

Looking slightly unnerved by the green boy speaking to him, one of the officers shrugged helplessly. "Nothing. This section of the cave is all rock; no sand or clay to catch any footprints. All we found was some poison in the kid's body, and I'm sure you guys have enough samples of that."

"Yeah." Cyborg dropped Trickster's body outside of the police tape and went to join his teammates. "More then we ever wanted."

The cop snorted derisively and went back to work, trying to pick up prints. "Any of that shit is too much. It's pretty fucked up."

Rose nodded sourly, glaring around the crime scene as if he thought a clue would magically appear in front of him. "While I appreciate you making the effort to help, there's nothing you can really do here. Hell, there's nothing we can really do here. We've found enough DNA evidence to convict, but we can't convict something we don't have."

"We've been on her trail a week now. Hopefully, she won't get much farther." Robin crossed his arms and sighed. He wasn't terribly surprised by what the commander had just told him, but it still irritated him that there was nothing to do. "Maybe if we check the cave we can find something."

"Maybe. But I wouldn't advise going any further without a guide. It's easy to get lost."

Starfire smiled slightly and glanced at Raven. "Do not worry. If we get lost, we will still be able to escape."

Waving his hand in a distracted 'go on, get out of here' way, Rose nodded. "Fine. If you're willing to take the risk, I wish you all the luck in the world. Maybe you'll find her back there somewhere. Just don't forget to take your trash with you." He jerked his head towards Trickster as he spoke, and then returned to work, breathing a sigh of relief as they finally left the crime scene. He had no problems with the Titans, but the last thing he needed was five teenagers ruining some potentially useful evidence without meaning too. It was better that they went on their wild goose chase; it would give them something to do that _wasn't_ involved with his job here. Besides, what harm could they do?

* * *

"Friends, I must repeat my earlier statement." Starfire's voice echoed around them softly, the cave walls turning her normally sweet voice into a horrible distortion that growled at them from every shadow. "I do not like it here."

"It's not exactly my idea of a fun morning either." Raven's reply was curt, and colder then she meant it to be. Wincing, she turned to the alien and gave her an apologetic look, breathing a sigh of relief as she received a smile in return. It was a weak one, but it was there and that was a relief. Starfire always seemed to be smiling because of some new discovery, and to see her without that content expression was always a bit unnerving.

Robin's voice broke through the empath's thoughts easily. "Raven's right. This isn't fun, but we have to do it. This cave is pitch black and filled with offshoots. For all we know, she may have gotten lost in here after killing the boy."

Cyborg's voice was the next to break through the gloom, his voice bouncing off the walls and joining the sounds of their footsteps. "Trickster's wakin' up. Rae, you ready to tie him up again?"

"Yes."

"Then you might want to do it soon."

"Dude…" Beast Boy had tucked himself into the middle of the group, staying as close to Star as he could, obviously comforted by the light. "She's not here. C'mon, we all know she's not! Let's just get out of here, okay? Please?"

"Never woulda pegged the runt as being afraid of the dark." Cyborg, realizing the villain was now quite obviously awake, dumped him on the stone floor, resisting the urge to kick him as he scrambled to his feet. Huffing indignantly, Trickster carefully went about wiping the dirt from his trench coat. "Good morning to you too, asshole."

"Don't call BB a runt, or Rae'll muzzle you again." The metallic Titan gave him an icy glare and pushed him into the middle of the group, making sure he was in plain sight.

"Yeah, yeah. Be good or you'll set your trained demon on me. Say, how did you guys manage to train her? Are there little demon treats out there, or –" The rest of his sentence cut of abruptly as shadows stole around the lower half of his head, uncovering his nose again almost grudgingly.

A hand dropped on his shoulder, and a voice breathed into this ear menacingly. "Let's get a few things straight, Trickster. Raven is not our trained demon, Beast Boy is not 'the runt', Cyborg is not R2-D2, Starfire is not 'the stupid whore', and I am not a 'flaming Batman knockoff'. Do you understand?"

His only response was a highly muffled 'yes' and frantic nodding from the villain as he tried to get himself loose from Robin's grip. The Titans exchanged digusted looks and resumed their trek, silence falling over the group. For the next ten minutes, there was no sound except for the distorted foot steps that echoed until it sounded like a battilion was wandering around with them. Suddenly, Starfire tripped, falling with a yelp and loosing control of the starbolt. Light flashed, the nearest wall shattered, and they were plunged into total darkness.

"Shit! Grab Trickster!"

"I've got him. Don't worry, Robin."

Shapes flickered around them, and sounds echoed as they all tried to get their bearings. Trickster stumbled as Raven caught his wrists and ankles in aura, and Cyborg fell into him, yelping. Robin joined the group on the ground as he tripped over Cyborg's arm, landing with an 'oomp!' on top of Starfire. Raven got to work sorting it out, and Beast Boy shaped himself into a bat. A flicker from a near-by corner was caught by his echolocation, and he recognized the shape immediately. If he paused to warn the others, she would be gone. So, without a second thought the changling charged into the darkness, determined to catch the cat-girl before she could escape.

* * *

She ran, traversing the caverns effortlessly. Five minutes, ten, twenty. Time began to blur, and all too quickly, the muffled sounds from his friends were left behind. As the last murmers faded he felt a pang of fear and had to force himself to keep moving. Neko needed to be stopped, no matter what, and right now he was the only one who could do it.

So they played cat and mouse, her normal position usurped. The idea that he, Beast Boy, who's only claim to fame was lame jokes, might catch the notorious Neko single-handedly got his adrenaline pumping, and his fear began to disappear. That, ultimately, was what doomed him.

A voice behind him caught his attention and he realized two things at once; one, that he had fallen into a trap, and two, that he was hopelessly lost. This could not end well for him.

"The green freak. Wonderful." Neko's voice was mocking as she circled him, gold eyes narrowed dangerously. She couldn't see in the pitch black cavern, but the soft rush of air as he shifted back to human form gave him away rather quickly. "I was hoping for your precious leader, but I suppose you'll do for a start."

The changeling stumbled back, hoping to escape; running was his only option. He had no chance against her, considering the only forms big enough to take her out could trigger a cave in. So, he was left with no option but to simply try to get away. "W-what do you want with Robin...?"

The killer reached up to touch her left ear, tracing it gently with a claw. The movement was a distracted one, as her eyes focused on a point in the distance, her tone becoming thoughtful. "What do I want with Robin? Well...that's a good question. That toy already has a crack; if I play too roughly he'll break right away. Of course, all the Titans have a few cracks." The brightness came back to her eyes, and even though he couldn't see her, he could feel it as they focused on him again. "I suppose you're just as good."

Her claws whispered over his cheek as she walked by, and with one swift movement he was on the ground. Under any other circumstances, a simple push wouldn't have knocked him over, but in the pitch-black cave she had all the advantages. He landed and bounced on his tailbone painfully, causing a hiss of pain and a giggle from her. As that pain slowly faded, another burst up as she suddenly lit a torch. Wincing back from the too bright light and willing his eyes to adjust quickly, Beast Boy scrambled for plan, realizing regretfully that none was going to come.

With yet another giggle Neko dropped to her haunches in front of him and smiled sweetly. "Is anyone in your team competent on their own? Or do I have to resign myself to a series of boring battles?" Seeing no satisfactory answer in his face, she feigned a sad sigh and pushed him again. "Pathetic, all of you."

Beast boy was reeling and scared, and as she leaned closer, a horrifically predatory grin on her face, he collapsed back onto his elbows, gasping as her claws brushed against throat. '_Oh man, the poison, if she cuts me I'm dead, where is everyone?' _His thoughts were an incoherent babble threaded through with pure fear and adrenaline, and in a sudden bolt of instinct he kicked her away and jumped to his feet.

"Finally, a challenge!" The catgirl climbed to her feet eagerly, seemingly more pleased then angry. A quick dive, and she was pinning him, claws once again playing at this throat. However, this time they weren't quite_ playful_, and he paniced. His powers burst out, and in a horrific moment for both of them, she found herself looking at a male duplicate of herself. "You...what...how?"

Unable to answer, he simply lashed out with his newly aquired claws, and sudden voices in the distance combined with this strange new form of his caused her to jump back. "Well...it appears we didn't get to play as much as we wanted. However, I'm sure your friends will finish my work for me." With a strange smile she bolted, leaving him with a smoldering torch and a lot of doubts.

However, he never got a chance to reflect on these doubts. Within seconds, his teammates were upon him, seeing only cat features in the green glow of Starfire's star bolt, which never gave his natural color a chance to appear. In the ensuing chaos he was attacked by his nearest and dearest, and the true enemy escaped once again, never prouder of herself then she was at that moment.


End file.
